CHAPTER 26
Axel raced away from the storm as fast as he could, slowing down at intersections, but not stopping. Adrenaline pumped through him as he clutched the wheel with one hand and tried to phone Gunn. If Gunn was out of cell phone reach… Axe’s stomach flopped.
But Gunn and Pops had eyes. They’d be able to see this was an ugly storm. Still, Axel pressed the button for voice command.
“Call Gunn,” he shouted.
“There is no Gun in your list of contacts,” the phone spoke back.
“Goddammit.” He didn’t have time to deal with ornery technology. This was a fucking emergency. But he didn’t want to stop driving. “Call Gunnar,” he tried again.
“Calling Gunnar,” the phone answered.
Axel waited, heart in his throat, unable to keep his eyes from darting to the rearview.
“I’m sorry. The network is busy.”
“Motherfucker.”
Gunnar was either out of network, or the storm was messing with reception. “Call Ben.”
“I’m sorry–”
“Gah.” Axel threw the phone across the cab where it clattered and bounced into the floorboard. Goddamn piece of shit technology.
“C’mon, think.” Axel wracked his brain, torn between where to go. On the one hand, turning out spooked livestock was a big job. Especially if Gunn and Pops had to come in from the field. They couldn’t afford to take a million dollar hit, that was for sure. A loss like that would break them. On the other hand, there were four college interns under his care who, if they were anything like he was at that age, were more likely to head up the hill to watch the storm than take cover.
Then there was Haley. The fear he’d seen in her eyes shook him to his core. What kind of a man was he that he’d left the woman he loved – the mother of his future child – to face down a storm of this magnitude by herself? He had to trust she’d be okay, because God help him, he wouldn’t survive if she wasn’t. And he’d never forgive himself.
The sound of Prairie’s lone siren drifted into the cab as he barreled across Main Street and ran through the town’s lone stop light. “Sorry, Travis,” he muttered under his breath. The street lamps began to wink on as the clouds blocked out the mid-afternoon sun. Axel pressed on the gas, doing everything to put distance between himself and the storm. He was still fifteen minutes from home. By that time, the tornado would be on top of Prairie.
He didn’t pray much, but as Prairie grew smaller in the rearview, Axel offered up a silent invocation that everyone would be okay. Axel slowed the second he spotted the Sinclaire & Sons arch up ahead. Where the hell should he go? A hint of panic spiraled up through him as he checked the rearview again. Lightning sparked from high up in the clouds and the wind began to pick up, roiling the trees on either side of the road.
He squeezed the steering wheel, then hit the gas. “Sorry, Pops. People before horses.” He hoped to hell he was making the right decision. He turned onto the Sinclaire drive and floored it, bouncing over the ruts and holes left over from the previous winter’s ice-storm. He glanced up at the Big House as he flew past. The lights were off. Hopefully Maddie, Blake, and little Henry were safe in the basement. He had a similar thought as he careened past the hunting lodge. Brodie and Jamey should know to hole up.
The wind picked up as he drove over the rise, away from the hunting lodge. Axel struggled to keep the truck from blowing around. Sure enough, as he reached the copse of trees were the tree houses stood, two of his students were loitering on the road, craning their necks. Axel slowed, powering down the window. “Are you fucking kidding me? Take cover. Now.”
The two students turned to stare, wide-eyed, as he yanked the steering wheel and drove the truck as far as he could down into the trees. It wasn’t ideal, but hopefully the trees would provide a little protection from the winds.
Axel hopped out of the truck, and hollered back up the hill. “Come on. You don’t wanna fuck with this storm.”
The two young men raced by and headed down to the clearing where the miniature houses stood perched among the old oaks. Just above the clearing, the shelter stood between the trees. There was no ideal place down here for a shelter, but this was better than nothing. Too close to the creek, and it could flood. Of course, in among the trees, they always ran the risk of a tree falling on them. But the door faced downhill toward the creek, so hopefully that helped. They’d find out for sure, today. He pounded on the door. “It’s Axe.”
The door popped open and Hope’s frightened eyes peered out at him. “Get in here. Weather radio says the tornado’s on the ground in Prairie and headed this way.”
Axe nodded. “It is. I saw it.” Again, his stomach dropped at the thought of Haley facing down the storm alone. “And these two nut jobs thought it would be okay to watch it.” He pushed them into the small space, and then entered himself. “Is everyone accounted for?”
Ben spoke up. “Yep, got the last birder in just before you arrived.”
“How do you brace the door?”
“Don’t need to. It’s certified. All we need to do is lock it.”
“And pray,” Hope added, her voice full of worry.
“Do we have any flashlights?” Axel asked as he threw the locks. Six lights clicked on, illuminating the tiny space. Twelve pairs of frightened eyes stared at him. This shit was getting real, quick. “Save your batteries. We don’t know what we’re going to find when we get out.”
One by one the lights winked out, until they were in total darkness. The air grew hot and thick with the smell of fear and sweat. Axel’s mouth tasted like he’d chewed on metal filings for lunch. And even though no one said it, he sensed they were looking to him to do something. He cleared his throat. “Look. Why doesn’t everyone sit down. It’s gonna be a few more minutes before the worst is over.”
Bodies shifted in the dark, one of the birders to his left grunted, and Ashleigh – at least he thought it was her – let out a nervous giggle. Axel turned around and pressed his back against the door, sliding down until he hit the floor. “I know this is rated for high winds, but we should cover our heads just the same.”
“It will at least block out the sound,” a fear-filled voice answered.
Minutes ticked by, and Axel was tempted to peek outside.
And then it was here.
With an otherworldly scream that sounded like a jet engine straining to slow when it landed, the noise was deafening. The shelter walls were sturdy, but the metal acted like an amplifier. The sounds disoriented him. Axel couldn’t think over the noise. Covering his ears, his world narrowed to a tiny point where he was reduced to nothing more than existing.
Surviving.
The structure groaned at the corners. Instinctively, he pushed back against the door, bracing it with all his strength. Something large hit them with a jaw ringing bang that shook the shelter and reverberated between the walls. Someone screamed. Axel covered his ears as the roar grew beyond deafening. More somethings hit the shelter, raining down with terrifying ferocity. Someone cried out, and he caught wisps of frantically yelled prayers over the din. Even though it was pitch black, Axel squeezed his eyes shut, chanting Haley’s name over and over, focusing on the way she’d smiled at him this morning before all hell had broken loose.
Time slowed.
They huddled suspended between life and death in a purgatory of screaming darkness. The sharp tang of fear hit Axel’s nose and settled on his tongue, dropping like a stone to settle in his belly. He could barely breathe. The faces of his parents flashed before him. Then Gunn’s. Wherever they were, he hoped they were safe. Axel couldn’t remember who was next to him, but he blindly searched for their hand. He brushed his fingers across the floor until he encountered another set. He covered the hand and gave a squeeze. The hand squeezed back, clutching at him like a lifeline. The ache in his chest grew so strong, that for a long moment Axel thought his heart might burst into pieces. They were in a certified shelter, they were safe. Right? Everything in his body screamed otherwise.
And then he felt it. They all did. Axel didn’t know how they knew with no windows and no light, but it was over. One by one, they exhaled. Someone across from him snuffled, Slowly, the screaming in his ears resided and he began to hear more than his pounding heart.
“Ben? You think we’re safe to check?”
“Hell, your guess is as good as mine.”
Axel slid up the door, hand feeling for the locks and twisting them open. Turning, he braced one hand on the door frame and inched open the door, listening. The sky was a sick, yellow grey color, and the wind gusted, but no longer ferociously. It was eerily quiet, except for the wind. Not even a bird cheeped. “Clear.” He pulled it open wider, and stood rooted to the floor of the shelter, shocked.
Bodies behind him stood and an older woman gasped. “Oh my.”
Axel stepped out, trying not to slip on the muddy ground, trying to wrap his head around what he was seeing. His truck, which had been twenty yards away, or more, lay upside down and crushed not twenty paces in front of him. Chunks of insulation lay strewn on the ground, or stuck in the branches. Glass and mud everywhere. Shingles, siding, silverware.
“Oh, Ben,” his sister gasped, a tremor in her voice. “Our tree house.” Through the trees, they could make out the old oak that had held Hope’s beloved tree house uprooted and on its side. The treehouse lay splintered under the branches, and the water from the creek was so high it swirled through the broken branches. No way they were going to cross it in those conditions.
“Whoa,” muttered Brad, another of his students.
“That’s why you get your ass to a shelter when the weather service tells you to take cover,” Axel snapped, suddenly furious with the two young men. “You could have died. You ever think of that?” He didn’t give a shit if he was being harsh. He’d’ve been the one to call the boys’ parents.
And somewhere, on the outskirts of Prairie, was Haley. He raked his fingers through his hair, fear for her blotting out everything else. “I gotta find Haley.”
Hope’s hand on his arm brought him back. “We need to get our guests taken care of first. She’s a professional. You have to trust she’s okay.”
He turned on her. “What if it was Ben? Could you be so casual?”
Hope’s eyes filled with compassion and she shook her head. “Of course not. But we’re in a crisis right now, and we have to take care of this group first before you can go play knight in shining armor.”
She was right. And Haley would tell him the same thing if she were here. But he didn’t have to like it.
Ben spoke up. “We’re going to have to hike back by the road. I can drop the six birders at the lodge and go assess damage up at the Big House. If Brodie’s truck is drivable, you can take it to your place and check in there. Then swing back and grab us. If Prairie got hit, they’re going to need all the help they can get.”
Axel scrubbed a hand across his face. “Take the girls too. The guys can come with me.”
“No way,” Ashleigh shook her head. “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I’m not strong enough to help.”
“Me, too,” chimed in Jessica, the quietest of his interns.
“Fine. Sorry.” Haley’d smack him for that slip-up.
Together, the group scrambled up the hill, carefully avoiding branches and skirting the occasional downed tree. The air smelled funny, like a weird combination of freshly chopped wood and organic matter.
Brodie and Jamey were waiting for them at the lodge, faces pinched with worry. Brodie look visibly relieved when he saw Ben. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“We need to get into town,” Axel urged. “As soon as I check on our place. Haley said the twister took dead aim on Prairie.”
Jamey exchanged glances with Brodie. “How many coolers can you help me get ready with coffee and water? If the tornado went through Prairie, they’re going to need supplies.”
Ben took charge again. “Why don’t you two get supplies together. Food, but also the equipment we use to pull stumps. We may need it to move things. In the meantime, Axe needs to take the truck to check on his family.”
Brodie raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”
“Smashed like Hulk.”
Brodie flashed him a grin. “Sucks for you, man. Keys are on the seat.”
At least they could still make jokes.
“Axe?” Hope’s voice sounded watery. As if she was trying not to cry. “Keep me posted? Let me know… everyone’s okay?”
He nodded, swallowing a lump of emotion. “Yeah. I will.” He motioned for the interns to follow and he climbed into Brodie’s truck, heart heavy. What would he find at home? Ashleigh and Jessica squeezed in the cab with him while Dustin and Brad hopped into the bed.
The small stretch of paved road that separated their two properties was so covered in mud it looked like a dirt road. There were a few downed branches which they stopped to pull out of the way, but what was unnerving were the crumpled pieces of metal that looked more like twist ties than fencing. And the pieces of people’s homes.
His friends’ homes.
From the looks of it, at least, the tornado hadn’t come straight down the main road.
Gunnar and his parents were standing just off the front porch when Axel arrived with his interns.
His mom rushed up, tears of relief in her eyes. “Oh, thank heavens you’re safe. I was so worried,” Martha wrapped him in a huge hug. “Where’s Haley?”
His mother’s concern for Haley touched him. “Don’t know. She sent me back here ahead of the storm to get everyone to safety.”
Pops on the other hand, was plain pissed. “Where the hell did you disappear to?”
“Glad you’re okay too, Pops,” Axel shot back. Of course, Pops would be angry. Axel had done something on his own.
“What if that tornado had come closer? Over a million dollars of livestock would have been chewed up by the barn, and you off gallivanting God knows where. You had responsibilities here.”
“Did you and Gunn get them out?”
“No thanks to you.”
Something inside Axel snapped. “People over horses, pops. That’s something I’ve tried to teach my interns. And why do you think they’re here? Because they get that. You’re right I have a responsibility,” he bit out. “To help my neighbors. To make sure my interns are safe.” His breath was coming hard and fast now. “What if something had happened to them? Would you have been the one to call their parents?”
Eddie opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, the fight seeming to leave him. His father suddenly seemed much, much older. He toed the ground a minute before raising his eyes to meet Axel’s. “I… you’re right.” He scrubbed a hand across his chin. “I wanted you here where I knew you were safe, son.” Eddie’s eyes grew bleak for a moment. “I… I can’t lose you.”
“You can’t keep me in a box either, Pops,” Axel threw back. “You’ve gotta let me be my own man.”
You can’t put me in cotton on the shelf. Haley’s voice echoed in his mind.
She was right, too. He couldn’t. Not if he loved her. Keeping her from what she loved would kill her spirit.
But he couldn’t think about that right now. Hell, he didn’t even know if she was alive.